Physical Characteristics of Cometary Dust from Optical Studies

Hanner, M. S.

doi:10.1017/s0074180900066766

Cited by 8 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 31 publications

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“…Horányi and Mendis [1991] considered this as a possible explanation of the detection of very small grains by Vega 1 and Vega 2 spacecraft (inbound) at distances as large as 2.5 10 5 and 3.2 10 5 km, respectively, from the nucleus of comet Halley in 1986. These authors also pointed out that, while the precise optical properties of cometary dust grains remain unknown, even if they were absorbing (e.g., dirty silicates) as deduced from infrared thermal emissions from several comets [Hanner, 1980], the excursion of even the very small grains (a = 0.05m) in the directions of the encounters were expected to be considerably less than 10 5 km.…”

Section: Spatial Distribution Of Charged Dust In the Cometary Environmentioning

confidence: 99%

Dusty Plasma Effects in Comets: Expectations for Rosetta

Mendis

Horányi

2013

Reviews of Geophysics

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[1] Despite their small masses, comets have played an extraordinary role in enhancing our understanding of cosmic physics. It was the calculation of comet Halley's orbit and the successful prediction of its return in 1758 that firmly established the correctness of Newton's law of universal gravitation. It was the morphology of the dusty tails of comets that provided the earliest information of the nature of the interaction of solar electromagnetic radiation with dust, and it was the orientation and structure of the plasma tails of comets that led to the discovery of the solar wind. More recently, the role of the changing dusty plasma environments of comets as natural space laboratories for the study of dust-plasma interactions, and their physical and dynamical consequences, has been recognized. The forthcoming Rosetta-Philae rendezvous and lander mission will provide a unique opportunity to revisit the entire range of earlier observations of dusty plasma phenomena in a single comet, as it moves around the Sun. In this topical review, motivated by the Rosetta mission, we discuss the varying modes of interaction of the comet as it approaches the Sun, and the different dusty plasma phenomena that are expected in each case, drawing on the earlier observations, including their interpretations and prevailing open questions.

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Section: Spatial Distribution Of Charged Dust In the Cometary Environmentioning

confidence: 99%